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Heat-Health Alert actions for care homes and health providers

The Heat-Health Alert action card lists what health and social care providers in England should consider before summer and at each alert level. Ask the assistant about cool rooms, thermometers, medicine storage or monitoring residents.

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Answers are written by a language model solely from this base's documents, with numbered sources. They can be wrong and aren't legal, medical or financial advice: check the sources before any important decision.

Preparing before 1 June

Providers are asked to make sure staff know the action card, the relevant guidance and local plans before 1 June each year. Suggested preparation includes testing local systems for sharing alerts, auditing business continuity and hot weather plans, and signing up to the Weather-Health Alerting System.

The card also recommends identifying cool rooms or areas that can be kept below 26°C, installing thermometers where vulnerable people spend substantial time (bedrooms, living and eating areas, wards, waiting areas) and checking internal and external shading. Curtains with pale, reflective lining are preferred over metal venetian blinds and dark-lined curtains, which absorb heat.

What changes at yellow, amber and red

At yellow, providers conduct a local risk assessment using the alert's impact matrix, share Beat the heat messages, check and record indoor temperatures and promote hydration with regular cold water. Most medicines should be kept below 25°C, somewhere cool, dry and away from windowsills.

At amber, local business continuity or hot weather plans are followed, with a possible surge in demand in mind, and discharge planning should take home temperatures into account. At red, providers follow local emergency response plans, actively monitor high-risk individuals and consider surge staffing and staff travel difficulties.

Year-round groundwork

Beyond the summer itself, the card suggests building heat risk into care records and considering changes to care plans for hot weather, for example daily visits by formal or informal carers for people living alone. Plans should allow room temperature to be monitored and, in clinical settings, body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure and hydration.

Other suggestions include a staff training plan, workplace champions to raise awareness of adverse weather and climate change, data-sharing agreements with partners such as local authorities, and local surveillance so the effect of hot weather interventions can be evaluated. Providers should also check that organisers of large summer events have assessed heat risks.

Frequently asked questions

Which settings is the Heat-Health Alert action card for?

It is mainly for managers in hospitals, care homes and other residential settings, primary or community health services on fixed sites such as GP surgeries, and organisations delivering care in people's homes. Not every action applies to every setting, so managers are asked to judge what fits theirs.

What if a resident cannot be moved to a cool area?

For people who cannot be moved, or for whom a move might be too disorienting, the card suggests cooling them down in place, for example with liquids and cool wipes, and increasing surveillance. Checking that they have visitor or phone call arrangements is also recommended.

What clinical checks are suggested for high-risk patients during an alert?

In clinical settings, the card suggests checking body temperature, heart and breathing rates, blood pressure and hydration levels. It also suggests weighing clients regularly to spot dehydration and rescheduling physiotherapy to cooler hours.

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This base's MCP server URL (tools ask_base and search_base):

MCP URL
https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=uk-heat-cold-weather-health-guidance
Claude Code, Cursor and other clients
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http kopik-uk-heat-cold-weather-health-guidance "https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=uk-heat-cold-weather-health-guidance" --header "Authorization: Bearer kpk_…"
JSON config (mcpServers)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kopik-uk-heat-cold-weather-health-guidance": {
      "url": "https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=uk-heat-cold-weather-health-guidance",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer kpk_…"
      }
    }
  }
}

REST API for your apps

mode is "answer" (written answer + sources) or "passages" (raw passages only). Add an optional maxPriceCents to cap the price: if the base costs more, the call is refused and nothing is charged.

curl
curl -X POST https://kopik.io/api/v1/bases/uk-heat-cold-weather-health-guidance/query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer kpk_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"question": "Your question here", "mode": "answer"}'

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